They are sturdy beasts
Trip Start
Aug 09, 2008
1
20
34
Trip End
Sep 16, 2008
Santorini,
Cyclades,
Greece
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thankfully, I had packed most of my gear last night, so there wasn't much to do this morning. I had my shower, got dressed, and went down to the restaurant for breakfast. The waiter was there as usual, and he said to me "Good morning, you hungry again?" I laughed, and he showed me to my seat. I was rather hungry actually, so I had the full American breakfast as they called it. I had Cereal, melon, watermelon, donuts, sausages, fried and scrambled eggs, with orange juice. Breakfast is part of the package deal, so it wasn't an extra, as it is in many other hotels. Satisfied with what I had to eat, I tipped the waiter for great service. He was really grateful.
Back to my room to pack the rest of my stuff, and I go downstairs to check out
Old port
. I order a cab, and it's here within 5 mins. The ride takes about 40mins to get to the airport. During that ride, I found out from the cab driver, that there are 11 million people in Greece, 5 million in Athens. He called that a big problem for Athens. There is another city with 2 million, and the rest are spread about the country. The cab driver said that Santorini was beautiful, but admitted he hadn't been there since 1982. He also said that New Zealand was beautiful. He has seen many pictures of the Alps and the greenery on Greek TV, and wanted to visit one day. He was a very nice guy. I tipped him too.The plane left on time and about an hour and a half later I was on Santorini. The cab driver was right. It is beautiful. Not in the Green pastures type way, but in the rugged Mediterranean way. It's like nothing I've seen before and that makes it beautiful to me. I checked into my hotel, and go for a walk.
The hills of Fira, where I am staying, are covered mostly with white villas that cling to the side of a cliff that overlooks the Caldera. There are many shops, stores, cafes, Taverns, and of course churches, in amongst the villas, that sell everything, but plumbing goods. There's a market here for Crane ;o)
It was a delight to walk through the maze of streets, and browse through the shops
Santorini
. I bought myself a cotton shirt in one of the stores. Many of the Cafes and Taverns have outside bars that overlook the Caldera. What a panoramic backdrop, to dine with. I'm going to one of these before sunset one evening. Apparently, the sunset is the best in the world. I'll let you know later if that is true.There is a cable car that you can take to get to the old port below, or you can walk down the some 550 steps, or you can take the donkey. I'll go down tomorrow, but I'm not using that Cable car, it looks too high, and really unstable to me. I think I might try the donkeys for a laugh, if they are there. Otherwise, I'll walk down. The Texan couple I had dinner with, in Rome, said they hired the donkeys. "They are sturdy beasts, even when they slip in each others shit."
The hotel has a large pool, surrounded by a concrete wall about head high. Cacti surround the length of the wall, and Palm trees on one side near the entrance. There are sun loungers, and umbrellas. Looks like a great place to sit and relax with my beer or wine, when it's too hot to venture out. It will get a lot of use.
I had my regular afternoon nana nap
Volcanic Island
. Seems to have become a bit of a habit now, but I need it. When I woke it was nearly 9pm and I had missed sunset. I'm feeling a bit hungry again, so I head into town to visit one of the local cafés. It's Wednesday, and the shops are still open and it is really busy. There are a lot of people about having a good time. I've been given a card to one of the nightclubs called the Rock club. I might go tomorrow night to see what it is like. As I am looking around for a place to have something to eat, and there are plenty of these, I've noticed that there are a lot of the clubs about. I've counted at least 6 so far. Eventually I found a place that makes crepes to order. Great! I order Bacon, banana and honey crepe with a local beer called Mythos. Nice Crepe and quite a nice beer too. Happily, I go to one of the kiosks on the side of the main road, and buy 4 cans of Heineken for 4.80 euros, that's really cheap, and head back to the hotel to kick back and sit outside in the warm night air with my beer and just chill.It's been a perfect start to my holiday in Santorini.
